Gawker has a Fox News mole, and this little mole has delivered a late Easter present to the Obama campaign. The big surprise in this pre-interview tape with Sean Hannity isn’t that Mittens’ wife has Austrian dressage horses, but that Mittens has an “easy to ride” Missouri foxtrotter. Mittens chose this horse ‘cuz he doesn’t tire and it’s not “boom, boom, boom…” Mittens likes an “easy”, “smooth” ride.

So here I am. And I come bearing gifts. The video above is of Mitt Romney and Sean Hannity bantering before the taping of an interview for the “Hannity Vegas Forum” in February. Of note: Romney professes his and his wife Ann’s well-known love of horseriding, praising the qualities of the “Austrian Warmbloods” that his wife rides—the are “dressage” horses, he notes—while maintaining his own preference for the “smoother gait” of his own “Missouri foxtrotter.”

Now there’s nothing wrong with Mitt and his wife loving horseback riding. But remember this video next time Romney attacks Obama for golfing. The inherent elitism and snootiness of golf is NOTHING compared to competitive horseback riding. And I think Mitt loses points with the GOP base for his correct pronunciation of dressage. To GOP-voter ears it sounds not only gay, but even worse, French.

Mitt Ro explained his wife’s choice of horses, “She (Ann) has Austrian Warmbloods, which are a dressage horse. It’s a kind of horse for the sport that she’s in. Me, I have a Missouri foxtrotter. So mine is like a quarter horse, but just with a much better gait. It moves very fast, and doesn’t tire, and it’s easy to ride, meaning it’s not boom, boom, boom. It’s just smooth, very smooth.”

Dressage horses are kinda like the fancy pants of horses.

Ironies of ironies, Sean Hannity manages to make Mitt Ro appear slightly human in this video. It’s a matter of relativity, after all. Hannity is such an utter slime ball that while Mitt Ro comes off soft and elite, he also appears perhaps human. He does thank the production assistant (?) for the water, after all.

Even more damage is going to come from knowing there is a mole in the Conservative Kingdom. Nothing makes people jumpy like being O’Keefed, and this video isn’t even selectively edited.

The real question here is does Ann ride a Lipizzaner stallion? Lipizzans are all white dressage horses, the picks of emperors and kings — descended from Arabian blood. You can watch them perform at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna — you know, when you take the private jet to Austria to pick up your favorite chocolates.

So how damaging is the Fox Mole’s Easter surprise? It’s not shocking that the Romneys ride; it’s what they were born to do, as entitled, inevitable Republican King and Queen, don’t hate them because they’re rich! The real shocker here is that Romney admits he likes a smooth, easy ride. He’s had one all of his life, why stop now?

The problem for Mitt Ro is that President Obama isn’t going to give him an easy ride. Obama was in rare fighting form today. He gave a speech on the Buffett Rule that showed off all of his verbal skills and his ability to fire up supporters, but also showed a bold, stable, unshakeable confidence born of being in actual office as President, instead of just dreaming about the title as some King-adjacents are wont to do.

When Mittens puts his Missouri foxtrotter up against President Obama’s Hurricane Storm of Justice, Romney might wish he’d learn to handle a real champion.

Ms. Jones is a Senior White House and Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Since joining Politicus in February of 2009, Sarah has been quoted by Talking Points Memo, The Atlantic Wire, CNN, MSNBC, The Week, The Hollywood Reporter, The Richard Dawkins Foundation and more. Sarah co-hosts Politicus Radio with Jason Easley and is the political correspondent for KPTR 1450's California Woman 411, hosted by Dee Jae Cox. Sarah is an award-winning producer with a background in TV/Film (TV host, news anchor, producer & writer) and a member of the Screen Actors Guild/AFTRA and SPJ. Sarah graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a major in Psychology & minor in Latin. She spends her free time dancing (ballet) and horseback riding (English).

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No. Austrian Warmbloods are not Lipizzaners. And the Royal Riding School of Vienna doesn’t do dressage, that’s military precision performance stuff.

Reynardine

Tue, Apr 10th, 2012 at 6:55 pm

No, she’s not in the Lippizaner class. Austrian Warmbloods, though I don’t know the details, are more like, say, Hanoverians or Mecklenbergers or possibly Trackehners. They are used for eventing and dressage, but not haute école.

Romney, now, may be upper-class, but he’s low-class all the same (They said you was high-class, but that was just a lie…). Nevertheless, he’s the pretty inevitable nominee, because Sanitarium just dropped out.

Reynardine

Tue, Apr 10th, 2012 at 7:00 pm

I notice the curious fact that Romney refers to his horse as “it”. A horseman refers to a male horse as “he”, even if it’s a gelding. A mare is definitely “she”. But then, what do you expect of a man who carries his quaking, panicking, shitting dog for hundreds of miles on top of his car, stopping only to put car and dog both through a car wash?

Reynardine

Tue, Apr 10th, 2012 at 7:26 pm

In this passage, I referred to the horse as “it”, because I didn’t want to leave the impression the rider was gelded. But Mitt, now…a moral gelding, maybe?

Sarah Jones

Tue, Apr 10th, 2012 at 7:05 pm

Just because she’s not riding the royal emperor horse doesn’t mean she’s low class! She’s mid class, and that is why 19k a year is “middle class” for Romney.

Out of curiosity, I looke up Austrian Warmbloods. They are still more a type than a breed, but the mare line is generally derived from classic old artillery/cavalry breeds, like Gidran and Nonius, while the stallion lines run to Thoroughbreds, Shagya/Arabs, and Trakehners. With the exception of horses with predominantly Shagya/Arab lines, they are required to be at least sixteen hands. The really “royal” Austrian breeds – the Lippizaner and Kladruber- are not permitted to be crossed with them.

Reynardine

Tue, Apr 10th, 2012 at 7:16 pm

I forgot to state that it is an open registry, that is, any horse meeting the breed standards can be registered in it, including pure specimens of some of the other breeds I mentioned.

Deborah Montesano

Tue, Apr 10th, 2012 at 11:43 pm

Ahaha! Those who live in glass houses…etc.

Dan Skinner

Wed, Apr 11th, 2012 at 8:28 am

I have no doubt the Stepford candidate will continue to creep us all out all the way up until he loses the election.

joan

Thu, Apr 12th, 2012 at 11:33 am

Romney is so dull and boring and stiff, he makes ‘beige’ look vibrant.